The first of Randy McMichael’s two first-half receptions this past Thursday came after a run-in with a charging defender and release into the open. McMichael looked up and back just in time to catch the short pass from Philip Rivers and turn it into a nine-yard gain for a first down.

His second catch was even more blatantly like something we’d see from the man McMichael replaced – reaching out on a crossing route to tip and then pull in a bullet from Rivers. McMichael held on, even as he was leveled, for a first-down that immediately preceded Vincent Jackson’s second touchdown of the game.

Randy McMichael isn’t Antonio Gates in real life, he just plays him on Sundays.

Or Thursdays, or whenever called upon. It is a little more involvement than he expected when he signed with the Chargers in June, but it’s exactly what he prepares for.

“When you’ve been around, played as many games as I’ve played, you know how to prepare,” McMichael said recently. “… It’s just being a football player. Football has so many situations that come up. It just comes down to preparation.”

Back in November, when the uncertainty of Gates’ availability was still a new and day-to-day question mark, McMichael would spend practices working primarily on his role as a blocking tight end.

Then he would go out on Sunday and play a hybrid version of Gates’ position, a hybrid in itself of tight end and receiver. McMichael did it spectacularly in Houston, catching two touchdown passes, and has done it at a high (if less dramatic) level every week he’s been asked to.

“The way he’s playing, I don’t see a major drop-off,” said Gates, who is expected to sit out the final two regular-season games due to his severe foot injury. “Just how he can play the game. He understands the game. In this league, it’s hard to do that. It’s hard to step in and play at a high level.”

McMichael shrugs.

“That just comes with playing a lot of ball,” said McMichael, who is in his ninth season. “I try not to be unprepared for any situation. Football has so many situations that go with it you don’t want to be unprepared. If (the center) might go down, I might have to go in at center.”

Best guess is that he said that somewhat facetiously.

With McMichael being 248 pounds, the Chargers would certainly be able to find someone more suited (50 pounds heavier) to play center. But perhaps they wouldn’t find someone much more ready.

A few minutes before McMichael uttered the above, quarterback Philip Rivers volunteered this: “He could play any position from an understanding standpoint.”

The familiarity Rivers has with Gates is an intangible the quarterback relishes and relies on, and it will likely never be duplicated with another player in Rivers’ career. But the quarterback knew early on in training camp that McMichael had an innate football cognizance.

“He’s a super, super smart player,” Rivers said. “He just gets it.”

McMichael doesn’t catch as many passes as Gates or catch them with the splendor that the future Hall of Famer makes look so routine. McMichael doesn’t get open as well as a healthy Gates or run after the catch like him either. But he’s as close to Gates as anyone the Chargers have ever had, and he can block more consistently and better than would ever be asked of Gates.

With 16 receptions for 186 yards, McMichael is on pace for the lowest production he’s ever had in a full season of his nine-year career. But he’s been crucial to the Chargers becoming at least relevant in the second half of the season as Gates has missed four of the past six games and been hobbled for parts of others.

“My original thought was (No.3 tight end) Kris Wilson is a good player and does all the blocking stuff,” head coach Norv Turner said. “Gates is a unique guy. As I’ve always said, he’s the best I’ve been around. And Randy is somewhere between both. He’s been an outstanding tight end. He’s been the lead guy on his team.

“I thought if something happened to Gates, he could fill that role. He can’t be Gates, but he’s played awfully well."